If you’re about to install programs on a new computer or reinstall them on an old one you may not be able to find the product key that’s needed to activate the program. This is a fairly common problem because the key number is often printed on the paper jacket that came with the disk. Years later, who knows where that is?

“KeyFinder” is a small free program from MagicalJellyBean.com and it can sometimes dig the key numbers out from their hiding places in your computer. In Joy’s case, it found only six program keys out of 263 installed on her machine. But at least they were her most important ones: all her Microsoft programs, as well as Adobe Acrobat Professional and TechSmith’s “Snagit.”